TEHRAN (Press Shia Agency) – Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani described the US government’s decision to pull out of Syria as a sign of its defeat in the Arab country and said bravery shown by Islamic martyrs in Syria have led to the US withdrawal.

– Politics news –

Addressing a congregation of worshipers in Tehran on Friday, Ayatollah Emami Kashani deplored the US presence in regional countries and said, “If the hooligans (hegemonic powers) are not stopped, they will swallow the world.”

“It was the bravery of the martyrs and their families which caused the United States to turn tail and leave Syria,” the cleric noted.

Ayatollah Emami Kashani went on to say that the US and its allies have been defeated by Syria, Yemen and Palestine and their failures will continue.

In a video posted on Twitter on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said he has begun what will be a total withdrawal of US troops from Syria, declaring they have succeeded in their mission to defeat Daesh and were no longer needed in the country.

The US and its allies have been bombarding what they call Daesh positions inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.

The strikes have on many occasions resulted in civilian casualties and failed to fulfill their declared aim of countering terrorism.

Syria has on several occasions written to the UN, complaining that the US was flagrantly violating its sovereignty. The US supports militants fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad and has repeatedly attacked Syrian army positions.